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Saturday, 21 July 2012

I flew in on Wednesday, only a couple of hours by plane. But oh what a difference a simple flight makes.

Instead of struggling to find my way around on unfamiliar roads, I knew exactly where to turn to avoid that traffic or head for a favorite cafe.

Instead of trying to remember the names that go with new faces, I was among friends and family.

Until the last century, people generally lived their whole lives among familiar faces, walking familiar roads. Of course there were a few intrepid souls who ventured further, but most stayed put, living and dying within a few miles of where they were born.

Now we pride ourselves on our mobility, on our non-attachment. But underneath, so many of us are lonely.

We survive with acquaintances instead of friends, tout discovering the new and novel instead of treasuring the known, and navigate with GPS units instead of memories. We, as a society, look down on people who prefer to live among friends, and chide those who dare to express their homesickness.

Moving may be a choice for some, unavoidable for others. But it's time we acknowledged what some of us have known all along. Home is the very best place to be. Thank you, Florida, for welcoming me home.

Saturday, 14 July 2012

No, there are no cowgirl hats or even guitars in my blogging room...just because I moved to Texas doesn't mean I changed! Okay, maybe just a little. I have developed a new appreciation for the Blues. And I now don't scream when I see the forecast calls for temps above 100 (I just hide indoors!)

But my office is more about the me who grown and changed through years of living in Florida, the Rockies and rural Pennsylvania.

Of course, there are baskets and files filled with booklets and brochures about Austin events for my Austin blog....and piles of menus and business cards to inspire future posts.

There's also a bulletin board filled with inspiration from now and years gone past, where everything from bumper stickers to pages from old books share space with photos and postcards and bits of ads where the color or the font is far more important than the product it's trying to sell.

My blogger world is also home to less-than-pristine antique dolls rescued from auction shoppers eager to use them for parts....because they remind me that things don't have to be perfect or new to matter.

And it's where I keep pictures of my kids

and my husband

so I can stay grounded in what really matters in life.

My office where the posts of this blog and A is 4 Austin come to life, where I explore other people's blogs and images, and where I test new ideas.

It's more than an office...amid the stuffed animals and antiques and more-pens-and-colored-pencils-than-anybody-really-needs, it's my creative home.